Wasatch West, Any legal weapon

Hey everyone!

So I got lucky, my very first time ever putting in for the bear hunt I somehow drew a tag! But now the rush to get ready begins. I have a few questions:

1-I can exchange my tag for an archery tag, that would permit me to bait the bears as currently I can only spot/stalk or run hounds, should I exchange?

2-The season starts soon (April 6th) But dont the bears start to come out the end of April? Or do I need to be set up come opening day? When is the best time during the season to start.

3-If I am to run dogs, I dont have tons of extra cash right now since the wife and I are looking to buy our first home, anyone have great recommendations that wont take my down payment away?

4-Any tips/pointers on the Wasatch West unit? What to look for, what to watch out for? Any help is great!

I am sure I will have more questions!

Congrats on the tag, you can exchange your tag for an archery tag up until the day before the hunt starts. If you are planning on baiting you will need to register a bait location with the forest service and then the fish and Game.

You cant start packing bait until the hunt opens, but that is usually plenty early and you are doing really good if you have bears hitting before the end of april.

Must have been a good year to put in with 0 points I know of three people including myself that drew with 0 points. I had the tag in 2010 and just became elligible to put back in this year.

LAST EDITED ON Mar-15-13 AT 06:45PM (MST)[p]You can exchange your rifle to archary after hunt starts and go back to rifle. If you set a bait you have to stay with archary

Alright I think I am leaning towards dogs. I have heard that High Top outfitters is great and all, but I want to hear if there are any other hound-runners out there that I need to know about? Anyone have any recommendations?